The Pear Field

Lela knows two things: her history teacher must die and she must start a new life beyond the pear field. On the outskirts of Tbilisi, in a newly independent Georgia, is the Residential School for Intellectually Disabled Children - or, as the locals call it, the School for Idiots. Abandoned by their parents, the pupils here receive lessons in violence and neglect. At eighteen, Lela is old enough to leave, but with nowhere to go she stays and plans, both for her own escape and for the future she hopes to give Irakli, a young boy at the school. When a couple from the USA decide they want to adopt a child, Lela is determined to do everything she can to help Irakli make the most of this chance.

Nana Ekvtimishvili is an internationally acclaimed Georgian writer and director. Her debut feature film In Bloom premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013. It won the International Confederation of Art Cinema Award and was Georgia's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014. Published in 2015 in Georgia, The Pear Field is her debut novel and has already been translated into German to much acclaim.